EXCLUSIVE: Mike Ruiz Shoots Album Cover with Martha Wash for 'It's Raining Men' Re-Release

Photos by Jason Russo (HeyMrJason.com)

Yesterday afternoon, May 6, on a top floor of a nondescript Manhattan building, Martha Wash of The Weather Girls was surrounded by six shirtless hunks and celebrity photographer Mike Ruiz (pictured at right). Gay heaven? Yes.

But it was more than that.

In order to celebrate the 30th anniversary of disco classic "It's Raining Men," Sony Music had decided to re-release the single with an album cover photographed by Ruiz. And what better way to celebrate the hit than by placing its original singer in the center of a bunch of half-naked, oiled-up muscle-men?

"What we're shooting today is exactly what [this song] made me think of thirty years ago: A gorgeous diva surrounded by a bunch of hot guys," Ruiz (also known as the mature figure of A-List: New York) told Out. "I would've loved to have been in a club and seen Martha onstage singing 'It's Raining Men' with a bunch of shirtless hot guys. This is just an amazing full-circle moment for me."

Wash, who has a new, currently-untitled album set to drop soon, thinks that the song's lasting influence can be chalked up to its famous hook.

"It's never stopped raining men," she said. "Anyone can get on board with that."

Amen!